Headrest for chairs



as. MAXSON HEAD REST FOR CHAIRS Filed Jan. 27, 1944 July 9, 16.2,403,537

INVENTOR.

C'Zareize Patented July 9, 1946 HEADREST FOR CHAIRS Clarence G. Maxson,Ritter Company, ration of Delaware Inc.

Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Rochester, N. Y., a corpo- ApplicationJanuary 27, 1944, Serial No. 519,897

This invention relates to head rests for operating chairs such, forexample, as those employed by dentists, surgeons, and the like, and,more particularly, to mounting means for the spaced pads of such headrests, one object of the invention being to provide an improved mountingfor supporting a pad for resiliently flexible movement for conformingits position to the head of an occupant of the chair.

Another object is to provide a mounting of the above character having amore sanitary type of construction by which the pad may be quickly andeasily detached and remounted, for cleaning and sterilization.

A further object is to afiord such a pad having a simple and practicalconstruction of such a character as to be economical to manufacture,convenient in use for the dentist or surgeon, and comfortable for theoccupant of the chair.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvementsand combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the endof the specification.

In the drawing: 7

Fig. 1 is a Side elevation of a head rest embodying the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 1, with some of the parts insection;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, central, sectional elevation of the parts of thepad mounting shown in Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a reduced top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view detached;

Fig, 6 is a side elevation of the shank portion of the head rest pad,showing a spring retaining means, and

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. 6, but at right angles thereto andpartly in section.

The invention is embodied, in the-present instance, by way ofillustration, in a head rest pad of the type shown generally in UnitedStates Letters Patent to A. J. May, No. 2,062,592, comprising a headrest bracket arm l0, having a lower end portion ll adapted forattachment, by any known or suitable means, to the back of a chair. Atits upper end, arm I0 is forked to provide oppositely extending branchesI2, each terminating in a mounting l3 for a head rest pad, M. The endsof arms l2 are turned inwardly to suitably incline the pads forreceiving and supporting the head of an occupant of the chair, as wellunderstood in the art.

of parts shown in Fig. 4

'7 Claims. (Cl. 155173) The ends of arms l2 are preferably flaredoutwardly, or enlarged, as at l5, and formed with an annular seat IS onwhich is positioned the peripheral portion of a substantially flatspiral metal spring l1. An annular part i8 is arranged to clamp thevspring on its seat, having a flange l9 threadedly engaged with the outerwall of the bracket end, as shown.

The spring I! provides means for flexibly supporting the pad, for whichpurpose the inner coils of the spring are positioned in a seat or groove20 in a metal supporting member 2| formed centrally with a cylindricalsocket opening 22, as shown.

The pad or suitable l4 may be constructed of any known material, such asrubber, plastic composition, or the like, being formed, in the presentinstance, of a known plastic composition. Fixed to the rear face of thepad, in any suitable manner, is a metal plate 23 from which projects ametal shank 24 having a reduced cylindrical portion 25 of such diameteras to closely but detachably fit within the socket 22 of member 2!.Shank portion 25 is slotted inwardly from its end, as at 26, to receivea forked spring clip 21, the central portion of which is formed withoppositely projecting flanges 28 tightly received in correspondinggrooves extending laterally from the inner end of slot 26, as shown, toretain the clip in the slot. The angular arms 21 of the clip projectsomewhat beyond the diameter of the shank for frictionally engaging theside walls of socket 22 to prevent inadvertent detachment of the shank.The spring l1 thus practically forms the sole connection between theoutwardly flared end of the bracket and the part 2! for supporting thepad.

It will be apparent from the above construction that a mounting isprovided for resiliently supporting each pad for movement normally ofits face and to laterally tilted positions, by which the pad is adaptedto conform in position to the head of the occupant of the chair and morecomfcrtably and firmly support the same. Each pad is adapted,furthermore, to be easily and quickly detached by an upward pull towithdraw its shank from the socket member carried by the spring, so thatthe pad may be readily cleaned and sterilized, from time to time, inaccordance with sanitary requirements. The construction comprises metalparts only, of a simple and durable nature, economical to manufacture,convenient in use by the dentist or surgeon, and comfortable andpleasing to the occupant of the chair.

It will thus be seen that the invention accomplishes its objects, andwhile it has been herein disclosed by reference to details of apreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that such disclosure isintended in an illustrative, rather than a limiting sense, as it iscontemplated that various modifications and arrangements of the partswill readily occur to those skilled in the art, within the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracket for said chairhaving a hollow end, a head rest pad, a substantially spiral metallicspring housed in said bracket end, and means for detachably connectingone end of said spring with said bracket and said pad, whereby saidspring resiliently supports said pad for movement normal to its face andalso for limited tilting movement toward any side thereof.

2. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracket for said chair, ahead rest pad member, and a metallic spring member connected to saidbracket, one of said members being provided with a socket and the otherofsaid members having a shank portion detachably mounted in said socketto support said pad member for resiliently flexible movement to conformin position to the head of an occupant of the chairand for beingdetached for sterilization. 4

3. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracket for said chairformed with an annular seat, a head rest pad member, a metallic springmember connected to said bracket and connected to and supporting saidpad member, one of said members being provided with a socket and theother of said members having a shank portion detachably mounted in saidsocket for supporting said pad member for resiliently flexible movementto conform in position to the head of an occupant of the chair and forbeing detached for sterilization, and an annular part threadedly engagedwith said bracket 4. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracketfor said chair formed with an annular groove, a supporting member formedwith a groove, a spiral metal spring positioned in the for detachablyclamping said spring member on said seat.

the other end thereof with grooves of said bracket and member, and ahead rest pad member, one of said members being formed with a socket andthe other of said mem bers having a shank portion detachably mounted insaid socket for supporting said pad member for resiliently flexiblemovement to conform in position to the head of an occupant of the chairand for being detached for sterilization.

5. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracket for said chairformed with an annular seat, a supporting member formed with an annularseat and having a socket opening therein, a spiral spring positioned inthe seats of said bracket and member, an annular part threadedly engagedwith said bracket for detachably clamping said spring on the seatthereof, and a head rest pad having a shank detachably mounted in saidsocket opening for supporting said. pad for resiliently flexiblemovement to conform in position to the head of an occupant of the chairand for being detached for sterilization.

6. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracket for said chairhaving an outwardly flared hollow end, ahead rest pad having asupporting part detachable therefrom and positioned within said flaredbracket end, a substantially flat spiral metallic spring member housedin said flared bracket end, and means for detachably connecting one endof said spring member to said bracket end and the other end thereof tosaid pad part, whereby said pad is resiliently supported for flexiblemovement normal to its face and for limited tilting movement toward anyside thereof.

'7. In a head rest for an operating chair, a bracket for said chair, ahead rest pad member, a substantially spiral metallic spring member, andmeans for detachably connecting one end of said spring member with saidbracket and the other end thereof with said pad member, one of saidmembers being provided with a socket and the other of said membershaving a shank portion detachably mounted in said socket, whereby saidpad member is resiliently and detachably supported for movement flexiblynormal to its face and in any laterally tilted direction to conform inposition to the head of an occupant of a chair andfor being detached.for sterilization.

CLARENCE G. MAXSON.

